A/N: Thank you so much Venice Wizard for being my first reviewer! I am so glad you are liking the story. Thank you for all of my favorites and followers as well; you make me smile!
Kimiko heard something panting in her room. Like heavy breathing that smelled like…meat? Gross. She slowly opened one eye, and saw a dog waiting by her bed, panting happily. The strangest thing was that the dog had a Konoha headband tied neatly around its head, and a blue vest.
"Am I still dreaming?" She wondered.
"Get up kid! Boss says you have training in ten minutes." The dog barked.
"Obviously dreaming." She decided, rolling back over. Sharp pain met her hand as the dog sank its teeth into her flesh.
"Ah!" She yelped, yanking her hand back. "That hurt!"
The dog grinned. "It was meant to. I'm Guruko by the way, since you didn't ask."
"Sorry, Guruko," She said, manners kicking in as she held her hand tenderly.
"Nine minutes." The dog reminded her. She stared at him. "There is no way I am getting to Training Ground Three in nine minutes."
Guruko's demeanor shifted, and he let out a low growl. "That's why the Boss sent me."
—
8 minutes and 57 seconds later, a panting Kimiko crossed the boundary of Training Ground 3, Guruko giving her one last nip at her heels before leaving her alone.
"What…the…hell," she gasped, putting her hands on her knees. Her hair was unbound, falling loosely against her sides. She had managed to attach her holsters while running, as well as wiggle into her boots with some frantic hopping and yelping she hoped no one saw, but she felt extremely discombobulated.
"Good morning pups!" A small ninken rested on the head of a giant brown dog. Milling about were a total of seven ninken, eight now as Guruko moved to join them.
"Evil." Naruto whispered, eyeing the big dog and rubbing his butt. "The dogs are evil."
"I agree. Cats are much better." Sasuke said fervently, glaring at a medium-sized golden dog that was happily circling his group.
"Ah, I see you've met my ninken." Kakashi-sensei appeared before them, looking completely unruffled and well-rested.
"Met? I was attacked! I didn't even get breakfast." Naruto complained.
"That's because I am going to treat you all to breakfast." Kakashi said. Naruto went from glaring at the dogs to staring at Kakashi-sensei like he was his savior.
"Ramen?" Naruto asked hopefully. Kakashi shook his head. "Not today. We need to start changing your diet. I don't mean no ramen," He clarified quickly, because it looked like Naruto might collapse in a puddle of tears, "but you need a balanced diet."
"Sensei, why did we get chased here by your ninken if we're going to breakfast?" Kimiko asked loudly over Naruto's sad mumbles of "less…less ramen? ramen…less…"
Kakashi sensei smiled with his eyes. "Well, you've only run half as much as I want you to do for your warm-up."
—
On the way to breakfast, Kakashi had actually kept pace with them, casually upholding a conversation as his students sprinted for their lives.
"Normally, Genin start their career by taking D-Rank missions. They teach you how to follow orders, practice filling out paperwork, and working as a team. However, you had so much passion yesterday, (Here, Kakashi had to raise his voice slightly over Kimiko's shriek as the large bull dog came very close to biting off her ankle), I've decided to dive in hard with the training. We will still be completing three D-Ranks a week, depending on how your training is progressing."
Kimiko was sweating by the time they reached the restaurant, Chosoku Nomi. At least when they sat at a table, she could respond to her sensei without sounding like a dying fish. The kind hostess quickly brought each of them water, which was drained immediately. Kakashi waited patiently as they chugged. Naruto seemed to instantaneously recover, and he was barely sweating, much to Kimiko's chagrin. Sasuke didn't look very sweaty, but she had heard him panting slightly at the pace at least. He also seemed to recover his composure quickly. Kimiko made an effort to copy him, and found measuring her breaths with his and straightening her back actually helped her heartbeat slow.
Their waitress stopped by and took their breakfast orders. Kakashi ordered nothing, citing that he had already eaten. Naruto tried to order ochazuke, which was basically just rice in soup and as similar to ramen as he could get. Kakashi interrupted and ordered him grilled fish on a bed of veggies and rice, and a side of miso. Sasuke ordered a breakfast skillet with eggs and other veggies, and Kimiko ordered the tamagoyaki, also with a side of miso.
"So," Kakashi said as they waited for their food. Kimiko found it difficult to listen as her stomach growled in protest after the exercise she had put it through, but did her best to focus.
"After our test yesterday, I've analyzed each of your strengths and weaknesses, and I have a loose plan to help you achieve your goals. However, I want to hear from you what you would like to focus on. And I don't want to hear "cool jutsu" or "I want to get stronger"" He held up his hand to hold off comments from Naruto. "Think about what you are good at, and what you are bad at, and what style you want to pursue."
Sasuke was the first to speak. "I want to continue learning new ninjutsu and increasing the lethality of my fire techniques. I suppose I can always work on my taijutsu, but it's not my main focus."
"You don't want to work on genjutsu?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke shook his head. Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.
"Naruto?" Kakashi prodded.
"Well, I do want to learn cool jutsu." Naruto admitted. "But the only one I really know is the Shadow Clone Jutsu. And my Sexy no Jutsu, but, uh, I don't think that needs improvement. I also really liked setting the traps yesterday, because it was like pranking." He responded, actually showing the capacity for some reflective thought. There is some Minato in you among all that Kushina, Kakashi thought privately.
"Any weaknesses you want to work on?" Kakashi pressed.
Naruto frowned and shuffled his feet a little. "I never mastered the Academy clone jutsu and I don't know why, or why I had so much trouble with them. I also never touched you with my taijutsu. I'd really like to give you a good punch in the face one day." Kimiko choked on her refilled water, hastily trying to cover her laugh as a cough. By Kakashi-sensei's raised eyebrow, she didn't think she had succeeded.
"And Kimiko?" He asked drily. Kimiko responded, her voice slightly hoarse from her "coughing" fit, "My mother's style was the support of her team. She became tokubetsu jonin through her sensing abilities. But…" She hesitated, then let it spill out. "She died because she wasn't suited for combat. She was strong and fast, but she relied on her teammates to cover her, and they weren't there when…" she couldn't say it, but Kakashi tactfully brushed past it.
"Have you inherited her sensing abilities?" Kimiko nodded. "I think so. She didn't talk about it much, and it's not exactly a bloodline limit, but my grandma said her mother was a sensor, my grandma was a sensor, and my grandma said she knew my mother was better than both of them, and described it in more detail than my grandma ever could."
"What's sensing?" Naruto asked.
"It is an ability that allows a ninja to detect other ninja, typically by sensing their chakra." Kakashi answered.
"For example, Kakashi-sensei feels like a rolling storm right before lightning strikes. Sasuke feels like right before you know you're going to get shocked, like by touching a live wire or something. Naruto, you feel warm. Like the edge of an exploding tag just before it's close enough to hurt." Kimiko said, closing her eyes for a moment.
"You're using your ability now?" Kakashi asked. Kimiko looked at him, confused. "What do you mean "using"?" Kimiko asked.
"You're not actively trying to sense them?" Kakashi clarified.
"No. Well, sort of. It always just feels like…" Kimiko waved her hand vaguely. "Background fuzz? Trained ninja are louder and more colorful the more powerful they are, unless they are suppressing their chakra. I'm used to Naruto and Sasuke, so they're easy to…feel. I don't really think about it." Kimiko shrugged.
"If you concentrate, can you sense someone you are familiar with?" Kakashi asked her. Kimiko tilted her head. "I've never tried." She admitted.
Kakashi rubbed his hands together as the food finally arrived, and his hungry Genin dug in thankfully.
"Well, you'll be pleased to know that your ideal training generally aligns with what I had in store for you." We will also be instilling teamwork values and formations, He thought, but he didn't want to spook Sasuke. Minato-sensei had always tried to force Kakashi to be a team player, and Kakashi had only worked with them because he respected his sensei. He wanted Sasuke to become so ingrained in the team he didn't even realize it until it was too late. Was it manipulative? Yes, but he was a ninja. He felt no guilt about tying Sasuke deeply to his teammates and increasing his strength in that way.
Yesterday, when he was at the Memorial Stone, he found himself praising his new team to the ghosts of his past. He wasn't sure why, perhaps because he had spent time with Naruto, but instead of his usual guilt-ridden rants to Obito, he had begun talking to Minato-sensei about training his students. He ended up spending the night there, and had sent his dogs to fetch his students while he changed into a fresh uniform and splashed some water on his face. It wasn't his first sleepless night, but it had felt strangely…productive? Despite having not slept at all, he felt lighter and more focused than he had been in years.
"Sasuke," He started, "You are very advanced for a Genin, but that has been your downfall." He watched Sasuke's face switch from pleased to a dark frown as he continued. "You've grown complacent, almost lazy. Through no fault of your own." He added, careful not to press Sasuke too hard. He needed to keep him listening to what he said. "We will be working on your ninjutsu - specifically your chakra control and chakra pool. Your taijutsu is good for your age, but if you are looking to be a close to mid range fighter, you will need to keep up with the taijutsu as well. You will also be helping yourself by helping your teammates. Tell me, Sasuke, what are your teammates' weaknesses? What did you notice in the fight?"
"Naruto is too brash and lacking any technique, and Kimiko lacks the stamina to keep up in a fight." He answered immediately.
"What specifically in the fight did you notice?" Kakashi continued. Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, and then shut it again, uncertain.
"You know these things because they were your classmates, not because you were observing them. As an Uchiha, you have a predisposition for being able to spot details in your teammates' techniques, and help them improve." He saw the light dawning on Sasuke's face at his hint about practicing for the Sharingan. Got him. "This will also be part of your training."
"Naruto," the blonde genin looked up from his almost completely finished plate. The veggies had been pushed aside. "Have you noticed you're shorter than Sasuke and Kimiko?"
"Wha - what does that have to do with training?" Naruto blustered, clearly uncomfortable.
"They have been giving themselves proper nutrition. Those vegetables will help you grow both in muscle mass and in height. You don't want to be the shortest Hokago, do you?" Naruto's eyes glowed at the mention of his dream. "I'll be the tallest Hokage, believe it!" He scooped the rest of the food into his mouth, grimacing slightly but chewing slowly as the flavor hit him. "Hey, they weren't too bad!"
"I'm glad.' Kakashi said. "I'll be giving you a budget to buy your own food, so you can try things that you want, to broaden your horizons. You will also have a ramen fund included in that." Naruto brightened up considerably, but his face fell when Kakashi told him the amount.
"Sensei, I don't think you have been shopping recently. That's not nearly enough money. That would barely give me the instant ramen cups for the week." He said.
Sasuke and Kimiko stared at him. "That's plenty, Naruto." Kimiko said. Naruto shook his head. "No, because the reason I started eating ramen was because it was the cheapest thing. I can get three meals a day all week and have a little leftover for maybe milk or eggs, sometimes both if there's a deal."
"Okay, I'm going shopping with you. That's ridiculous." Kimiko declared. "And then you're coming over tonight and I'll teach you a new recipe so you don't end up just trying to make everything like cup ramen."
"Y-you don't have to do that." Naruto said, shocked. His eyes grew as wide as saucers as Kakashi-sensei pulled money from his own wallet. "There's like a Genin fund right? You're not…that's not your money…" He trailed off as Kakashi passed over the money to Kimiko.
"I needed to pick up things for dinner tonight anyway. You can carry the groceries." Kimiko said, slipping the money into her wallet.
Naruto's lip wobbled and he scrubbed at his eye briefly. "T-thank you This'll be fun, y'know!" He laughed awkwardly. Even Sasuke, with the social skills of a teaspoon, seemed to understand this wasn't something to keep asking questions about.
"You already have a lot of chakra, but your issue is control. To learn to do 'cool jutsu', you will need to focus on chakra exercises. We will also be refining your taijutsu, and perhaps work on some of your traps you liked so much."
Naruto nodded, his eyes still faraway like he was barely listening to sensei.
"Kimiko." Kakashi turned his analytical eye on his kunoichi. He had thought long and hard on what he wanted to do with her. Obviously, she was slotted as the support role on their "Frontal Attack" style team. The Last Uchiha and the Kyuubi Container would surely grow into S-Class shinobi if given the right training - his training, he had realized last night. Kimiko, support or not, needed to be able to match them. Perhaps not take them out in direct combat, but the balance of the team would rest on her shoulders.
Rin had been an excellent kunoichi, progressing to Chunin at a young age, and he knew her medical skills had far surpassed any Chunin. Her downfall had been her reliance on her team to protect her if they ever faced an opponent she couldn't take on. He wouldn't let the same happen to Kimiko, and honestly training Naruto and Sasuke to defend her would stifle the headstrong kunoichi rather than encourage her.
Unlike the boys, she was a bit of a blank slate. Except for her sensory abilities, she was competent in everything the Academy taught, but not quite leaning one way or the other. He could just train her to be a sensor/tracker, but that still left the issue of her being unable to defend herself. That would just be supplemental in her training.
"Kimiko, I agree that you need to be able to hold your own in combat. For you, I am planning to train you to use Genjutsu as both an attack and a defense, and to lock down opponents for Naruto and Sasuke. You will also be supplementing that style with taijutsu - no one expects a Genjutsu user to be able to hold their ground. Depending on your chakra type, we might also dabble in ninjutsu to compliment your style, or possible combo attacks with Naruto and Sasuke. Finally, we will be developing your sensor abilities, as you will be in charge of tracking down opponents when necessary."
"Yes, sensei," she responded, pleased she wasn't being pushed aside. She was worried Kakashi-sensei would just tell her she would be in the back, supporting the team. She didn't mind supporting them - that's what teamwork was about, after all. But she was a kunoichi, not a damsel in distress.
"Okay," Kakashi laid bills on the table to pay. "Let's start training."
—
Training started with another sprint to the Training Grounds. According to Kakashi-sensei, they ALL needed to work on speed. "After all, when faced with an opponent too strong for you, your best option as Genin is still to run away. If you can't hit an opponent because you're too slow, you're dead. If you can't dodge a blow because they're faster than you, you're dead."
Kakashi-sensei allowed them a quick reprieve, and then set them to work. Naruto was instructed to make clones and given a kata to follow. It was kind of hilarious watching a bunch of knucklehead blondes hold scrolls for each other as they tried to follow the images in the scroll. It was something called "Whirlpool Style", which Kakashi-sensei said would work well for his brute force offensive. It was all about darting in, dealing damage, and circling around, like they were caught in a whirlpool. Multiplied by his clones…Kimiko shuddered to think about it.
Sasuke and Kimiko were also working on their taijutsu to start, with Sasuke critiquing her every move. She could hold her own for a while, but it quickly became apparent that Sasuke had the edge in strength and technique, and she tired more easily.
Her first fight she lost, but she was pleased that she had held her own and Sasuke had had to actually work for it. He pointed out that she preferred to dodge rather than block, and waited for opportunities instead of creating them. It was downhill from there. Each fight Sasuke beat her worse and worse, until at one point, he simply put his hands down. Kimiko tried to surprise him, but she was too slow and he moved to the side, letting the blow glide by.
"You're done." He said simply as she stood there, hands on her knees, panting.
"How…are you…not tired?" She gasped, sitting down and chugging her water. He shrugged. "If you had kept up the same skill as your first bout, I might be." He allowed. "But the more tired you got, the less energy I had to put in."
Kimiko glared at him, but eventually sighed, slowly rising to her feet. "I have a long way to go." She admitted.
"If you're going to be useful for my training, you are going to have to last longer than that." Sasuke agreed.
"If you're going to be an asshole, I'm going to train just to kick your ass." She retorted, trying to get her breathing back under control using the same rhythm Sasuke had earlier.
"Now you just sound like Naruto." Sasuke scoffed.
"Hey," she said, "no need to kick me when I'm down."
"I can HEAR you!" Multiple clones shouted indignantly. Kimiko laughed, and then let out a startled squeak as Sasuke launched himself towards her. Guess her break was over.
—-
Kakashi had also brought pre-made bentos to lunch. Kimiko could barely raise her arms to put food in her mouth, and struggled between her ravenous hunger and her shaky hands. Kakashi had made her spar with Naruto after he popped his clones - apparently, he could retain the information from his clones, because after popping and creating multiple clones over and over, he had improved in the Whirlpool Style so significantly that he had actually beat Kimiko in their match. Apparently, Shadow Clones were a giant cheat to training, and Naruto had enough chakra to abuse it. Sasuke looked very tempted to try to make some himself, until Kakashi pointed out that Naruto's chakra pool, due to a bloodline limit, was already that of a jonin. Kimiko didn't know Naruto had a bloodline limit, but the mention of it obviously made him uncomfortable, so she didn't question it.
She had a lot of questions about Naruto, but they were pushed to the back of her mind at the moment as she scooped rice and meat into her mouth. She wasn't even sure what she was eating, just that it was fuel for her body. Even just one Naruto was hard to deal with. He launched himself at her, just like he always did, but when she moved to counter, he did some fancy circling step that carried him around her. It did vaguely remind her of a current of water. As she turned to face him, he lashed out at her feet. She jumped, intending to come down on him from above, but he was already moving, in and out of her guard with the same circle step. The step seemed to prevent him from overcommitting to one action, which is usually how he was beaten in a taijutsu match. He finally landed one of his knockout blows, and she woke up to him peering over her, apologizing because "he thought she would block it."
Sasuke had once again brought up her dislike of blocking (which she thought was unfair. Getting hit by Naruto already felt like getting hit with a large hammer, why would she want to do that?), her stamina, and her not creating an opportunity. She had let Naruto dictate the fight, which she could admit she had. Naruto, on the other hand, had only really learned the one move, which Sasuke said he would have countered by stepping into his guard, forcing Naruto to move how Sasuke wanted and thereby allowing Sasuke to lead the fight.
She was sore, unhappy, and feeling pretty down about her skills when Kakashi announced they would be working together on chakra control exercises this afternoon.
New activity. She thought, mentally shaking off her woes. I told Sasuke I wouldn't put weight on him. Now is the time to prove it.
"Today, we will be learning to climb trees." Kakashi-sensei said. His students stared at him blankly. He expected some protest, but perhaps they were already learning that he never quite meant what he said. Or he had tired them all out so much they didn't care. No, that couldn't be it.
"A demonstration, then." He said, walking casually up the trunk of the tree. He didn't even have to think about his chakra, but he walked slowly and purposefully so they could see what he was doing.
"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed. "How did you do that?"
"I used my chakra to stick to the trunk of the tree. Too much, and the tree will break. Too little, and you'll fall right off."
"I've been meaning to ask…what is chakra?" Naruto asked sheepishly.
"Such a loser." Sasuke groaned as Kimiko face-palmed.
"I'm not a loser! I'll climb this tree faster than you, believe it!" He shouted back at Sasuke, waving his fist angrily.
"Studying…we have to do so much studying…" Kimiko whispered into her hands. "I can't do this for months." An idea occurred to her.
"Hey sensei, could a Naruto clone read a scroll and transfer information to the real Naruto?"
Kakashi-sensei nodded. "That was the intended use of Shadow Clones, to be spies that could find information and then immediately disperse upon reading it." He said."However, it takes a lot of mental discipline to learn the information second-hand to its fullest, which is why I'm waiting until Naruto has had more training with the clones. It could overload his brain and knock him out. A chaotic fight, or even taijutsu training, is more focused on muscle memory and a general idea of what happened. I doubt Naruto remembers every second of his clones' training today."
"Nope!" Naruto agreed.
"Next week, I will be sending Naruto to the library to learn more things." Kakashi-sensei ignored Naruto's groan. "Today, why don't you refresh him on chakra."
Kimiko nodded, mentally emulating Iruka as she spoke. "Chakra is the living energy in each of us. We use it to create jutsu by mixing the physical and spiritual side of chakra." She glanced over at Kakashi-sensei. "Is that good enough?"
"For now." He said. "I want all of you to concentrate chakra to your feet." He demonstrated with his hands, and they all watched as his feet began to glow a soft blue. "This is too much chakra, but this way you can visualize what is happening."
His students nodded and each made the hand-sign. He waited until he could feel chakra pool at their feet, then ordered, "Now, run for the tree and see how high you can go."
His students kicked off, each sprinting towards a different tree.
Unsurprisingly, Naruto only made it a few steps before blasting off so hard he couldn't catch himself. Sasuke only made it another two steps before sliding off, pushing into a flip so he didn't land on his head like his teammate.
Kimiko made it farther, farther…and just barely missed reaching one of the taller branches. She outstretched her fingers to catch herself, but was unable to get a grip. Kakashi tensed, ready to catch her, but she managed to slow herself on the trunk of the tree and land ungracefully, but unharmed, at the bottom.
"Nice, Kimiko!" Naruto cheered, and Kimiko felt a warm glow across her chest. Sasuke gave one of his classic "hn" noises, but didn't say anything negative, which was one of the best interactions they had had today.
"Thank you, Naruto." She turned to Kakashi-sensei, determined to reach the branch this time. "Can we go again?"
By the end of training that day, each of them was dirty, bruised, scratched up, and tired, but each had made significant progress. Kimiko could reach the first branch consistently, but her success afterwards wildly varied. Naruto and Sasuke had started using kunai to mark their progress, and their chosen tree was littered with slowly climbing marks and missing chunks of wood.
"Excellent work Team 7. Same time tomorrow." Kakashi dismissed them and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"See you tomorrow Sasuke!" Kimiko said, waving. Sasuke nodded and left, which was about as much as she expected.
"You don't have to come with me to buy food Kimiko," Naruto said, sounding uncharacteristically shy as they left the Training Grounds together.
"It's no problem." Kimiko waved her hand dismissively. "Besides, you and Naruto beat the crap out of my arms. I am very thankful to have you carry the groceries." She said honestly.
Naruto perked up. "Naruto Uzumaki, grocery carrying service, reporting for duty!" He saluted. Kimiko laughed, and the two talked about unimportant things as they approached the store that Kimiko used. She grabbed a cart and began loading the produce. She instructed Naruto to grab anything that looked interesting, and after some cajoling he grabbed a couple vegetables and fruits, along with what Kimiko was making tonight.
She also got a variety of meat, explaining as she went how she would cook it and what it paired well with. Naruto nodded along, looking a bit overwhelmed.
"When all else fails, throw the meat in a pan, then throw in some veggies, and mix it with eggs or rice or both and whatever seasoning you like, even if it's just salt and pepper." Kimiko advised. "It might get boring, but it usually works."
"Argh, this cooking stuff is so complicated." Naruto complained. "I wish I could just eat ramen."
"There are pre-made meals just like ramen, they're just more expensive." Kimiko said. "You can use some of your D-Rank money for that when we get it." Naruto looked a bit more hopeful at that.
They finished their shopping and moved up to the counter. Naruto watched as Kimiko paid for her food, for a family of three, for a week, and she chatted amicably with the store owner. Naruto was completely shocked at the price. His team had been right - he should have more than enough money! Where had this store been all his life? Then Naruto placed his things on the counter as Kimiko put her things in bags.
The store owner glared at him, and Naruto's heart began to sink.. He rang up Naruto's things with distaste, and Naruto watched the final number jump to far exceed Kimiko's, and the budget Kakashi-sensei had given him.
"You got the money, brat?" The man sneered. Naruto clenched his hands into fists as realization hit him. They had been up-charging him - everyone in the village - for years. So he had to survive barely scraping by on cup ramen. All because of that damn fox.
"Hey, wait, there must be some mistake." Kimiko protested, having finished putting her groceries in the paper bags. "I bought way more stuff than he did, and my total was much less."
The owner stared at Kimiko. "There's no mistake. He has to pay a…tax."
"What tax?" Kimiko asked, confused.
"Just drop it, Kimiko." Naruto muttered, beginning to put things back in the cart, speaking through clenched teeth.
"He has to pay for damages to my store." The owner replied. Naruto's heart clenched, knowing that the owner meant what the Kyuubi had done to the store 12 years ago. Kimiko, of course, didn't make that jump.
"Naruto, one of your pranks?" Kimiko asked with exasperation.
"Uh, yeah. One of my pranks." Naruto seized the lie gratefully.
Kimiko rolled her eyes. "Okay, well, he was only buying them for me, really, so there shouldn't be a tax because they are my groceries."
"These are all yours?" The owner asked disbelievingly.
"I'm a growing kunoichi." Kimiko bluffed. "Plus, when have you ever seen him here? I shop here all the time. Could you please take the tax off? I'll have him pay me back some other way."
The owner deliberated for a moment, then tapped a few buttons on the register, and the total lowered. Naruto quickly helped Kimiko bag up the groceries, and then used his Shadow Clones to grab all the bags. As they walked out of the store, Naruto turned around and pointed at the store owner.
"When I'm Hokage, I'm going to make stupid taxes like that illegal!" Naruto shouted, then dashed out before the owner could say anything else.
"Thanks for lying," He said sheepishly as they walked down the street. He sent some clones to drop off his groceries at his house - he didn't want Kimiko to see where he lived.
"It was no big deal. Prank or not, he was being a jerk." Kimiko raised an eyebrow at him. "How many 'taxes' do you have to pay around here?"
"Um…a lot…" Naruto admitted. Kimiko nodded.
"Well, you let me know and I'll buy whatever you need, and you just hand me the money okay?"
"Why would you do that? Why would you go out of your way and do that for me?" He tried to keep the shaking out of his voice as he asked.
"Look, I get you were a hellion prankster to most of the village, but like Kakashi-sensei said, traps can be trained, so I look at it as training. Plus, I don't think your pranks ever hurt anyone. I think some people just need to remove the sticks out of their asses. You're my teammate now, and I'm not going to die because you didn't get enough food to become stronger or you're using rusty kunai or something."
"That makes sense." Naruto grinned, and Kimiko felt like the sun was shining on her momentarily as his chakra practically blinded her.
Note to self…no declarations of team spirit or nice comments on the battlefield, she internally winced. I'll go blind. But she felt happy she had raised Naruto's spirits so much. She had always thought he was annoying, but once she got past his loudness, declarations of Hokage, and his exclamations of "believe it"...he was really good. For the few days she had actually talked with him, he had been enthusiastic, hard-working, and supportive. She could have a worse teammate, definitely.
Naruto looked at the house they approached curiously. It wasn't anything massive - just a single story abode with a small garden in the front, a single apple tree with a tire swing tied to it. Kimiko opened the red painted door and slipped off her shoes, shouting "I'm home!" as she entered.
"Welcome home!" Two voices chorused, and Kimiko ushered Naruto into the kitchen to drop off the groceries.
Naruto watched a little ball of purple launch herself at Kimiko with an excited "Nee-san!" Kimiko laughed and spun her around.
"Are you going to help me put away the groceries?" She asked the mini-Kimiko.
"Yes!" Kimiko's younger sister began to rummage through the bags and put things away.
An older woman, who Naruto assumed was Kimiko's grandmother, approached and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She had a bit of a hunched back, but she held herself with grace, and her long white hair was pinned back with a beautiful set of hairsticks. "Welcome home, Kimi-chan. Did you have a good day with your team?"
"Yes, I did. This is my teammate, Naruto. He doesn't know how to cook, so I invited him over to help."
"How kind of you," Her grandmother praised, before turning to Naruto. Naruto suddenly felt like prey underneath the eye of a predator, and he swallowed thickly.
"So you'll be taking care of my granddaughter, hm?" She asked thoughtfully, and Naruto swore she was picking up each part of him and analyzing it with just her gaze.
"Y-yes, Horiba-sama." Searching for something else to say to break the sudden tension, he added, "Thank you for the ration bars. I think they really helped us pass the test."
Immediately the air became clearer and Naruto relaxed as the sweet old lady visage came back.
"Oh, well that's nice of you to say dear. Of course you can join us for dinner." She said cheerfully, moving away into the living room to put her feet up. Kimiko seemed not to notice, and immediately put Naruto to work helping her chop up veggies and throw them in the pan. It was, as she had said, a pretty simple dinner, and soon they were all sitting around the table.
Hikari asked about a million questions about their day, which Kimiko answered with great patience. Naruto noticed that a table setting had been set up at the head of the table, but no one ever arrived.
Naruto soon found himself chatting with Hikari, embellishing tales from the Academy and doing silly tricks like tossing meat into his mouth while she clapped. All too soon, they were clearing the table, and "Oba-chan", as he was told to call her, was affectionately handing him a bento box of leftovers for lunch, and Kimiko told him she would see him tomorrow and thanked him again for helping her carry everything.
Naruto headed home in a bit of a daze, possibly in part from his multiple shadow clones popping throughout the day. He approached his old, plain door, and unlocked it. He swung open the door to his dark, empty apartment.
"I'm home." He called out. There was, of course, no response, though the expectation didn't make the ache any less painful. He closed his eyes and remembered the evening, the bright lights and the laughter and the food, the voices happily calling out to him, and he opened his bright blue eyes with determination. He was going to have a family like that one day, just as soon as he became Hokage. Even if he had to climb stupid trees and deal with stupid Sasuke and read some stupid books. He was going to achieve his dream, believe it!
A/N: Next chapter, more training and some lovely D-Ranks
I didn't spend as much time editing this chapter because I was excited to post it. Let me know if there are any glaring issues.
What do you think of the direction the story is going? What do you think of Kimiko? Have I portrayed the other characters well? Thank you for your follows and favorites, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!